passover week 2020 - apple and almond layer cake
I've had this Nigella Lawson apple almond cake recipe bookmarked for ages and it was very well reviewed on her website. This cake is both gluten and dairy free making it perfect for Passover and if served without cream, it's also pareve.
The cake is a light and airy confection made from stewed apples flavoured with lemon, eggs, sugar and almond meal. Many of Nigella's readers separated the eggs; whisking the whites then folding them into the batter. That sounded like a good idea so that's what I did.
Another of the commenter's mentioned that she made the cake into a layer cake for her daughter's birthday. That also sounded like a great idea and with a pot of berry jam to use, I sandwiched the layers together with softly whipped cream and jam.
Originally I was going to decorate the cake with even more whipped cream but in the end I decided all the cake needed was a light dusting of icing sugar.
Here's the recipe for you which make a 17 cm cake or a 16 cm layer cake. For all my recipes I use a 250 ml cup and a 20 ml tablespoon. All eggs are 60 grams and my oven is a conventional gas oven not fan forced, so you may need to reduce your oven temperature by 20°C.
Apple and Almond Layer Cake (adapted from Nigella Lawson) – makes a 16 cm layer cake.
Apple Puree
1-2 Granny Smith apples
2 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp caster sugar
Cake
Oil or butter to grease the tins
4 large eggs, separated
165g almond meal
135g caster sugar, reserve 1 tbs
3tsp lemon juice
Optional
¼ cup flaked almonds
½ cup raspberry jam
1 cup whipped cream
1 teaspoon icing sugar
Fresh raspberries
Method
Peel, core and chop the apples roughly. Place the apples in a microwave proof bowl with the lemon juice and sugar and loosely cover. Microwave on high for 4 minutes or until you can mash the apple to a rough puree with a wooden spoon or fork. You can also stew the apples in a saucepan. (You should have about 143g /generous ½ cup of puree.) Leave to cool.
Preheat the oven to 180°C. Grease and flour two 16cm sandwich tins with butter or oil and potato starch. Line the bases with baking paper. You can also bake this in a 17 cm spring-form tin.
Put the cooled puree into a large bowl. Blitz to a puree using a stick blender. Stir in the egg yolks, almond meal, caster sugar and 3 tsp of lemon juice to make a thick batter. Whip the egg whites in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment until the egg whites have formed stiff peaks. Add the remaining tablespoon of caster sugar and beat until combined. Gently fold the egg whites through the apple puree mixture.
Pour half the mixture into each of the prepared tins and bake for 35-40 minutes for the sandwich tins. If you’re making a single cake then sprinkle the flaked almonds over the top of the cake mixture and bake for 45 minutes. It's worth checking 5 minutes before the suggested time, as ovens do vary. Put the tins onto a wire rack to cool slightly before unmoulding.
When completely cool, remove the lining paper from the cakes and sandwich the cakes with whipped cream and jam. I decorated the top of the cake with a sprinkle of icing sugar, some whipped cream and fresh berries. If you bake this as a single cake, sift some icing sugar over the top of the cake, just before serving.
This was devoured so quickly I didn't have a chance to snaffle a piece but I was assured it was delicious.
See you all again tomorrow with the final day of Passover Week 2020.
Bye for now,
Jillian
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